Malédiction
by EnigmaUniverse
Summary: One act of kindness can go a long way. When someone shows Zeref compassion, he finds himself captivated. ZerCy. AU.
1. Chapter 1: Resolve

Chapter 1:

Resolve

...

Low, harsh steps bounced throughout the luxurious room as he advanced forward, slowly coming to a halt near his balcony. The stars above were practically gleaming, but he could not bring himself to care when something else had begrudgingly gained his attention. He gazed down, cold black eyes staring dispassionately at the thriving town below. They were celebrating their annual fall festival, which unfortunately occurred every year on the first week of Autumn. A week, whereas he could otherwise be enjoying some peace and quiet in his lonely chambers.

However, it wasn't that he disliked the celebrations and what they stood for; in fact, it was quite the opposite. He wholeheartedly _supported_ the idea of giving back to nature. The world was a cruel place, but it was the humans that made it that way. They destroyed lands and tarnished them with their foul civilizations, not even sparing a glance at the true beauty of the world. Planting seeds and keeping Earth Land clean was, admittedly, a great idea—if only that was what happened during the festivals.

Instead, his pitiful civilians chose to do none of those things. They would gather around the local bars and shops, littering the streets with their filthy trash. When the moon reached it's peak, they'd flood the courtyard and play the most jarring music he'd ever heard. He couldn't bear watching it. They weren't giving back to nature, they were only adding more to the predicament. He'd addressed this issue in the courtroom, but like always, his opinion on the matter had been ignored in favor of the council's. Everyone thought him to be an incompetent king, so why would they even care to listen to his wishes?

Sometimes, it seemed like humanity was _deliberately_ pushing away his ideals for a better world.

As the thought crossed his mind, something inside of him stirred. His breath hitched, and he could feel a thick layer of _sweat_ beginning to drench his body. He hadn't even realized that his feelings were turning bitter towards his people, and now he was going to pay the ultimate price for it. The darkness sealed within him was _slithering_, tugging at his consciousness as it attempted to gain control. Though he tried to fend it off, he was quickly losing the internal battle—defenses gradually waning. Vivid colors began to fade to black and then all he could see was _red._

Moments later, dozens of agonizing screams rang out from below, echoing throughout the night for a mere few heartbeats. The grating music came to an abrupt stop, and then everything went eerily silent. He could feel his heart pounding in his head, darkness finally receding, but leaving him entirely drained and exhausted. Something familiar awakened inside of him and tears began to form in the corners of his eyes when he realized just what he'd done.

It was smothering—the weight of regret and sadness washing over him. For many years, the curse within him had been sealed and secured; the darkness was never thought to be a threat anymore. Yet, he'd somehow managed to loosen it's bindings, resulting in a mass tragedy. _He_ was to blame for killing those innocent civilians. Despite having hated the way they did things in his kingdom, he'd never wanted them _dead, _no matter how _disagreeable_ their yearly festivals had been.

He then felt sick, nausea overwhelming him. His legs were suddenly weak, and he clawed at the balcony in an attempt to stay upright. Behind him, he could hear steady footsteps approaching. When he turned slightly to glance over his shoulder, he noticed a lone knight standing just a few feet away. His misty, black eyes clashed with purple, spectacled one's. Heavy tension flooded the room as they continued to stare at one another like that, his eyes conveying more emotion than words ever could.

Finally, the silence was broken.

"Lord Zeref," The man's face was a perfect mask of indifference, even as he continued to hold eye contact. "I have received word from the Magic Council. They have given me orders to bring you into custody immediately. To avoid any more civilian casualties, you will be held in containment."

There were no protests or objections. The expression on Zeref's face remained neutral as he processed the knight's words.

When a few moments past by with still no response, the knight grew a bit impatient. He pushed up his glasses and elaborated. "This is only a temporary solution, my lord. Until they can find someone to reseal your curse, you will be isolated and put on trial. Whether this massacre was of your own accord or not, you have been labeled as a threat to the kingdom. If you come along willingly without any trouble, I will ensure that no harm shall come to you."

At last, the young king reacted. As he turned to face the knight completely, a gust of wind blew in, rustling his dark robes. His bangs swept to the side, cool breeze beginning to dry his tears. Solemnly, he spoke, voice low and soft. "You're a good man, Lahar. However, it must be hard for you to show sympathy for someone as despicable as me. I've murdered hundreds of innocents in the blink of an eye and yet, you remain civilized within my presence. For that reason, I warn you now—"

He took a step forward and Lahar's tall, straight posture suddenly turned rigid. A malevolent aura began to surround him once more, licking at the expensive marble flooring below. Fear was now evident in the knight's wide, panicked eyes and the soldier unconsciously retreated back a step to avoid the dark magic from reaching him. Zeref stopped dead in his tracks, face twisting into an expression of agony as he tried to fight back against the unrelenting energy inside of him.

In his struggle, he managed to choke out a strangled, "—you must _run_."

As if on cue, Lahar bolted out of the room, hastily ordering the awaiting knight's in the hallway to evacuate the castle. Their retreating footsteps grew fainter and fainter until eventually disappearing altogether. The castle was then silent, not a single soul to be heard. His eyes flickered from red to black, the darkness within him unsure of whether or not to remain dominate now that there was no target. In the end, control was passed back to Zeref and he slumped down to the floor, exhausted and miserable.

The tears spilled down his cheeks like a river, only stopping when he found himself unable to cry any longer. Even then, he expressed his grief by stumbling over to the balcony, mournfully apologizing over and over to the townspeople for massacring them. He continued to lament like that until the sun began to rise the next morning. During those noiseless hours, Zeref had come to a grim conclusion. He would leave the kingdom once and for all before he could take away another poor, unsuspecting life.

Decision in mind, he packed what he would need for the journey and climbed down the balcony, sneaking past the guards posted around the castle. Although he agreed with the Magic Council's idea of containing him, he couldn't risk the chance of killing someone in the process. Zeref would separate himself from humanity, and thus, never harm another human again. His idea sounded painfully lonesome, but it was necessary. He sincerely believed that he deserved no better, after all.

...

_A.N. I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter of this story, as I have surely had a lot of fun writing it. This is kind of a rewrite of an older story I had written last year called, "Cursed". Back then, I had just started writing fanfiction and thought my story was epic as hell. But looking back now, my writing skills were rather amateurish. So instead of completely abandoning the idea, I've come back to fix it and turn it into what I imagine it _should have_ been. _


	2. Chapter 2: Arrive

Chapter 2:

Arrive

...

Heavy rain pummeled down upon the vast forest floor, creating a thick curtain of rainfall that immediately soaked her skin and streamed down her face. When she made move to wipe the water from her eyes, a flash of lightning lit up the sky ominously, deafening thunder following suit not long after. The booming sound was sudden and had her quivering in fright, body trembling. Though, despite her obvious fear, she quickly gathered her wits and continued to trudge further, intent on reaching her destination. She was careful to avoid fallen branches and stumps along the way.

Her hike through the dense trees was slow, pace steady and cautious. Large, wide footprints lay imprinted within the wet soil in front of her, a sign that she was still going in the right direction. The tracks were freshly made, so she was obviously getting closer to whoever they belonged to. However, she did not let this fact shake her. As a determined member of Fairy Tail, she couldn't turn back now, especially after coming so far. She only regretted not having Natsu by her side, as his presence always kept her calm during these nerve-wracking moments.

And although she hated to admit it, Lucy was not the _best_ Mage when it came down to using close combat. She also wasn't accustomed to diving into dangerous missions by herself like this. She could easily preform and succeed in S-class missions with the help of her friends, but doing it alone was an entirely different ball game. She concluded that there wasn't really any other choice in the matter, though—since the rest of the guild was already occupied with their own enemies for the time being. If she left for back up now, her own target would escape and cause trouble for them some other day. She couldn't let this criminal have such an opportunity.

By then, she could already hear hushed voices in the distance. Lucy immediately stiffened, stopping dead in her tracks as to not make any noise that would attract attention towards her. When the voices carried on casually, obviously not sensing her presence, she let out a small breath of relief. Luckily, they didn't know she was there yet. She warily tiptoed across the muddy grass and hid behind a tree to shield her from sight. A few seconds passed and she finally decided to peek over the wet bark. Her brown eyes bulged comically in disbelief at what she saw on the other side.

There had to have been _at least _a dozen cages scattered throughout the open clearing, each steel box containing a pair of slumbering young women. The cages were situated on wooden platforms, supported by four old, rubber wheels. A group of reptilian-like men sat on top of a dead log, laughing drunkenly and making crude jokes about the girls confined inside their makeshift prisons. Further to the right, two other men stood separately from the gang of drunkards.

Their odd features and overall authoritative aura stood out the most, separating them from the rest of the typical thugs. The first one was extremely short and chubby, while the second man was slim, but appropriately muscular. Her attention focused on the taller one's long, spiky hair. If it wasn't for his creepy ringed eyes, she may have considered him to be relatively normal compared to the rest of them. However, when he suddenly turned away from the smaller man and cackled manically, she immediately purged that last thought from her mind.

These guys were all insane, looks be damned.

Lucy gripped the tree tighter, knuckles growing ghostly white. There were more of them than she had expected. The rest of them must have come from different directions, as she had only followed a trail containing _one_ pair of footprints. This led her to believe that perhaps the ambush from earlier had just been a distraction to lure Fairy Tail away from the prisoners. If so, then once her guild eventually realized their true intentions, they'd already be long gone, cargo in tow.

As she quietly unclasped her whip, her expression grew serious. She would find a way to stop them herself, if she had to. It was obvious that she couldn't single-handedly take them all on at once like Natsu, but at least she had her wits on her side. Lucy would use their own strategy against them and lure each one away from their group, one at a time. After doing so, she'd find the key to those cages and help free all of those women. By the time Fairy Tail arrived, she'd have it all under control.

Lucy swept back a lock of damp, blonde hair from her eyes. Finally, the rain was beginning to lighten up. She grasped her whip tighter and started to move forward when all of a sudden, two slimy appendages shot out from somewhere behind her, swiftly slithering around her thin waist. Their grip was unrelenting, long arms squeezing and crushing her small body. The pressure was suffocating, and she found herself unable to breathe as the figure carried her out of the forest and into the wide opening.

She writhed and kicked against them, to no avail. Her captor continued to stomp through shallow puddles of water until finally reaching the middle of the meadow, where they promptly dropped her unceremoniously to the ground below. As Lucy struggled to get air back into her lungs, she registered the sound of heavy footsteps gathering around her. It was only when someone whistled suggestively, that she finally recovered to glare up at the lecherous reptiles surrounding her.

A tall, gruff man stepped forward and sneered down at her, sizing her up. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" he taunted condescendingly, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Looks like a little Fairy has lost her way. Aren't you a bit far from home, runt?"

She was about to give him a snark reply when a bright flash of purple suddenly entered her vision, temporarily blinding her. The cool, crisp air around her grew hot and humid, rain immediately vaporizing into nothing. Lucy could feel her heartbeat accelerating from the intense heat, body trying to produce sweat, but failing miserably. Then, without warning, a bloodcurdling shriek resounded from the area of where the repulsive man had been standing. Immediately after, a putrid smell flooded her nostrils. A scent she instantly recognized as something _burning._

Unfortunately, she wasn't at all prepared for what she saw when her eyes finally came back into focus. It felt like a bucket of ice-cold water had just been dumped over her. Her own skin stung as she continued to stare morbidly at the smoking, charred corpse in front of her. By then, the lewd whistles had died down, the rest of the men slowly shrinking back in fear of becoming a lump of flesh like their former comrade. Standing over the scorched remains and completely unaffected by what he'd done—was the same blonde-haired maniac from before.

Lucy fell flat on her back, horrified. She tried to form coherent words, but no sound would come out. When she tried again and finally succeeded, her voice was low and strained. "You_..._ killed him_..._ one of your _own_ companions_..._ _Why_—?"

Crazed, crimson eyes glanced down at her, meeting her fearful gaze. A demented laugh escaped his lips, a shrill noise that had chills running down her spine. The high-pitched sound continued, growing even louder when he noticed her slowly, but surely crawling away from him. He advanced on her immediately, quickly closing the distance between them.

"_Why_?" he repeated, a wide and psychotic grin splitting his features. "I don't need a reason for killing him, blondie. He had served his purpose... so there was no reason for him to keep on living! Useless insects have no place in this business and it's my job to make sure of that!"

As if to prove this point, he aimed his fist towards her and a dark, violent flame suddenly lit up his entire hand. Even though she was a few feet away from him, she could still feel the heat of the fire as if it were hovering directly over her skin. Lucy's eyes widened, face paling considerably. Her mind had went blank and her brain was failing to process what exactly she should do next. The temperature was rising again, warmth licking at her heels and gradually coming closer.

Tears stinging the corners of her eyes, she opened her mouth to speak, but stopped short when she noticed his head suddenly jerk up, penetrating stare focusing on something far out in the distance. Then, like the flip of a light switch, the hot air abruptly turned _cold._ She could sense a deadly aura floating in the air, along with an unsettling presence. The ominous feeling had the hair on her arms prickling, despite her effort to remain calm. Slowly, Lucy turned to glance behind her—fearful, yet curious to see what held everyone's attention.

It was just a young man, she registered in mild surprise. His clothing choice was fairly unusual for someone around these parts, considering that he was dressed in a luxurious robe. A spotless white toga wrapped around his midriff, coming to flow freely at the side of his shoulder. Although it had only just now stopped raining, he was completely dry from head to toe. She idly wondered if perhaps he was a wizard, but just as the thought came to her, it was immediately squashed upon meeting his gaze.

There was something absolutely terrifying about those emotionless black eyes. The faraway look on his face added further to her unease, despite the fact that he seemed to be aware of his surroundings and what was going on. He was watching them, but not actually _seeing _them. She could see something strange in those empty eyes, a dark undercurrent that promised eternal suffering. But for a split-second, she could also detect a hint of sadness before it soon faded.

Lucy was suddenly snapped out of the trance when his lips began to move, voice a gentle murmur that she had to strain her ears to hear. "I'm sorry for this. I hadn't meant to come here and take another life, honestly. Though, it seems fate has made it's choice. It's sad, how you've managed to anger me."

Then, those eerie eyes lit up, glowing a sinister red. It was the last thing Lucy saw as she descended into deep unconsciousness.

...

_Sorry for the late chapter, I've had to catch up on a lot of things lately. I want to sincerely thank everyone for the positive reviews. This story will mainly be serious, but I'll definitely add some lighter aspects later. __Also, after a bit of considering I figured, "Aw what the hell.." and__ added one of Zeref's actual quotes. It shouldn't be too hard to spot._


End file.
